Toughest call, choosing Manning over Brady. Both deserve it. Brady gets the edge in titles 3-1. Manning gets the edge in MVPs 3-1 -- and he's in prime position to win a record fourth this year. Manning gets the edge in raw productivity, with 11,000 more passing yards and 87 more touchdowns. Brady played eight years, Manning 10. If I chose this team at the end of this season and the Patriots had won another title, I'd have to put Brady in this spot. But we're picking it now, and as we sit here, I believe Manning will go down in history as one of the top three quarterbacks, and I can't make a team of the decade, in Manning's prime years, without having him quarterback it. Manning is my Player of the Decade.

He's giving Manning the nod over Brady because of MVP awards!!!!!! An award decided by bias media types like HIM !!!!!!

Peter--Here's what your Coach of the Decade say "stats are for losers, its winning that counts!!! Gee I wonder which Manning would prefer, 3 Mvp's or 3 SB rings. If I were Manning I would be embarassed by this.

This is stupid!! Brady has 2 Super Bowl MVP's and one regular season. Manning has 3 regular season and 1 Super Bowl MVP (which he didn't deserve, it should of been Rhodes). Then, he goes into individual stats. Brady played two less seasons and hasn't had the weapons that Manning has had his whole career (until '07). Plus, he doesn't even mention their playoff records. If Manning goes down as a top 3 QB then Brady will go down as a top 2!!! Thanks for getting me fired up NEGAME.....

Manning can throw stats and meaningless wins at you until you choke (so to speak), but historically, Brady has been the better big-game quarterback. It's hard to argue that Brady hasn't done more with less than Manning. In fact, there is evidence to suggest that giving Brady superior weapons in Randy Moss and Wes Welker has actually retarded his skills. I'll say this: If I'm running an expansion team and I'm building for the long haul I might consider taking Peyton, but if I have an established team and I have one game to win, it's Brady.

This is stupid!! Brady has 2 Super Bowl MVP's and one regular season. Manning has 3 regular season and 1 Super Bowl MVP (which he didn't deserve, it should of been Rhodes). Then, he goes into individual stats. Brady played two less seasons and hasn't had the weapons that Manning has had his whole career (until '07). Plus, he doesn't even mention their playoff records. If Manning goes down as a top 3 QB then Brady will go down as a top 2!!! Thanks for getting me fired up NEGAME.....Posted by ALLDAWAYPATS

Pull your head out of Tom Brady's rear end. Im a huge Pats fan but Manning is a better player. He has passed for 4,000 yards 10 times in 12 years. Thats VERY impressive. Look at him this year with a Wayne, Clark and a host of rookies. He has 4,200 yards and 33 TD's. Even take away 2 years from his career and he is still going to be 3-4 thousand yards ahead of Brady. Dont get me wrong they are 1 and 2 in the leauge no doubt about it, but Manning is slightly better.

I am going to put underdogg words into Peter King's mouth - What is being missed is that this is a compliment to the Patriots as a team. If you believe that Brady is better than Manning then you are not giving the proper credit that the Patriots defense deserves.

I am going to put underdogg words into Peter King's mouth - What is being missed is that this is a compliment to the Patriots as a team. If you believe that Brady is better than Manning then you are not giving the proper credit that the Patriots defense deserves.Posted by underdoggg

I will ask you since you are a Colts fan. If Brady and Manning were drafted by the other team how many titles would they have? I still it would be Manning 3 Brady 1 to be honest. The Patriots won those games as a TEAM.

I am going to put underdogg words into Peter King's mouth - What is being missed is that this is a compliment to the Patriots as a team. If you believe that Brady is better than Manning then you are not giving the proper credit that the Patriots defense deserves.Posted by underdoggg

And if you believe Manning is better than Brady, you are forgetting that only once in his NFL career did Manning's season not end with some version of this . . .

I am going to put underdogg words into Peter King's mouth - What is being missed is that this is a compliment to the Patriots as a team. If you believe that Brady is better than Manning then you are not giving the proper credit that the Patriots defense deserves.Posted by underdoggg

NEGAME.. think of it from a TEAM perspective. You take Manning off that Colts team this decade, the Colts would not have come close to what they have achieved. What probably hurt Brady more than anything, is the fact the Pats were still able to finish 11-5 without Brady last year!! That made people question just how critical Brady was, as an individual player, to the team's success. They didn't doubt his skills sets, just his importance to a team. If Manning had been hurt in the beginning of any season, first quarter of the first game, would we have seen the Colts win in the double digits that year? The difference between the two is post season play and Brady maintained stellar play while Manning has cracked under the pressure most times.

As Pats fans, we have our bias and absolutely feel Brady is the top dog. Accept the fact others will not agree, even though there are many who do chose TB over Manning.

Once again, this all depends what you want. Manning can throw stats and meaningless wins at you until you choke (so to speak), but historically, Brady has been the better big-game quarterback. It's hard to argue that Brady hasn't done more with less than Manning. In fact, there is evidence to suggest that giving Brady superior weapons in Randy Moss and Wes Welker has actually retarded his skills. I'll say this: If I'm running an expansion team and I'm building for the long haul I might consider taking Peyton, but if I have an established team and I have one game to win, it's Brady. This is the wisdom as I see it.Posted by prairiemike

I understand what you are trying to say, but Brady's skills didn't look very retarded in '07!

That's true, ALLDAWAY, but without researching it in any way, I would be willing to bet that even given the prolific stats of Moss and Welker that season (and playoffs), Brady was still spreading the ball around a lot more then than he is now.

Brady is by far the better qb he doesnt throw his team under a bus when they lose and has done more in bigger games with less than Manning has ever done in any game with more. Lets not forget Tom has done this with different offensive coordinators and has had two kids in that time as well. Id take Brady any day in any game!

Brady is incredible. His physical talents are greater than Manning's, but Manning is an OC on the field. As for Brady having different OC's, the pats have run the same offensive system since Brady's day one.

That's true, ALLDAWAY, but without researching it in any way, I would be willing to bet that even given the prolific stats of Moss and Welker that season (and playoffs), Brady was still spreading the ball around a lot more then than he is now.Posted by prairiemike

I have noticed what you are saying a lot this season. In the past seasons Brady would always find the open guy (including '07). Now it seems like he locks onto Welker or Moss and doesn't go thru his progressions like he has in the past. I'm not sure why this is. Maybe because of the OC play calling?

I'm so angry about this!! Peyton Manning over Brady. Here's what he says Toughest call, choosing Manning over Brady. Both deserve it. Brady gets the edge in titles 3-1. Manning gets the edge in MVPs 3-1 -- and he's in prime position to win a record fourth this year. Manning gets the edge in raw productivity, with 11,000 more passing yards and 87 more touchdowns. Brady played eight years, Manning 10. If I chose this team at the end of this season and the Patriots had won another title, I'd have to put Brady in this spot. But we're picking it now, and as we sit here, I believe Manning will go down in history as one of the top three quarterbacks, and I can't make a team of the decade, in Manning's prime years, without having him quarterback it. Manning is my Player of the Decade. Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/magazine/specials/2000s/12/05/nfl.decade.team/index.html?eref=sihp#ixzz0aXWrdmLj Get a free NFL Team Jacket and Tee with SI Subscription He's giving Manning the nod over Brady because of MVP awards!!!!!! An award decided by bias media types like HIM !!!!!! Peter--Here's what your Coach of the Decade say "stats are for losers, its winning that counts!!! Gee I wonder which Manning would prefer, 3 Mvp's or 3 SB rings. If I were Manning I would be embarassed by this.Posted by NEGAME

I think if you put this into perspective it may make you feel a little better.All sports writers are tremendous front runners. It's the nature of the business because by being a front runner they can always be right. Peyton Manning is having a great year this year and Brady has been subpar by his standards. If Peter King was giving this award 2 years ago when Brady looked like god he would be handing it to Brady. Thus his award and any award given by sports writers are completey meaningless and Peter King is scum....That makes me feel better just knowing it.

I am going to put underdogg words into Peter King's mouth - What is being missed is that this is a compliment to the Patriots as a team. If you believe that Brady is better than Manning then you are not giving the proper credit that the Patriots defense deserves.Posted by underdoggg

So if you believe Manning is better than aren't you not giving the proper credit to the Colts Defense? Despite what many think, the Colts have had better defenses this decade than the Pats including the 1st ranked defense in 2007, and 2nd ranked defense in 2005.

Brady is incredible. His physical talents are greater than Manning's, but Manning is an OC on the field. As for Brady having different OC's, the pats have run the same offensive system since Brady's day one. Posted by underdoggg

Underdoggg, you are usually well informed, but this statement is ludicrous - the Patriots have not run the same offense from day one with Brady at QB - for better or worse their philosphy has been far different from 2007 - 2009 than it was from Brady's beginning until 2007

This arguement is no different than the Marino/Montana debate of the late 80's.......at the end of the day you play the game to win the trophy.....Peter King fails to mention the 2 ( very easily could have been 3) SB MVP trophies that Brady has won

Miami doesn't even have the excuse of poor defense because they always had the ability (financially) to do something about it - Marino's best years were before the salary cap.

I sincerely believe that Brady is a better player under the intense pressure of playoff football than Manning - that HAS to weigh more than regular season

Underdoggg, Indy w/Manning has had the advantage of homefield most every year, yet they don't get it done

Lastly - the biggest irony is that Mannings worst year in the playoffs is when they won it all - after the 2 handed choke by the Patriots in the AFC title game with a corp of receivers that are now bagging groceries

For everyone else - if you don't already know - Peter King is an embarassing shill for Peyton Manning, he's had Manning as the MVP this year from week one - it can't be a surprise that he would say Manning is the better player

I think you can't go wrong with either guy. I personally would pick Brady based on his post-season performances. I find it funny that on one hand you hear "Stats are for losers" and then on the other hand people pick Brady based on the 2007 season (people similarly use stats to defend Moss). So are stats only sometimes for losers? Besides historic numbers, how did 2007 end?

Brady has 2 SB MVPs (although some argue it should have been either Law or Vinatieri in SB36) while Manning has 1 (I agree it should have gone to RB). Manning has 3 reg season MVPs to Brady's 1. Head-to-head in playoffs: both won at home and lost on road.

In 03-04 Manning in had to play against NE defense loaded with playmakers while Brady faced a lesser Indy defense with a weak secondary (name 3 guys besided Freeney from 03-04 roster). I would pick Brady but you gotta consider he didn't have to face BBs defensive schemes.